Chapter 7

Bungalow 6

It was very near the Christmas holiday and I was looking forward to a break from school work. I was also looking forward to getting married to Millicent. After that, when my father returned from his honeymoon to Europe, we would join forces in our consulting business. Father was already starting to make a name for himself in the farm management business. That was thanks largely to my future father-in-law who was apparently bragging about the new scientific approach at the House of Lords meetings that he regularly attended when he wasn't away on business. But who knows, he may have been trying to assure that his daughter was marrying a solvent husband.

This year I had begun taking some farm management classes to go along with the regular classes. Adam, I knew, had taken a couple of extra classes that he thought would be helpful at the university level. He had told me he had decided to continue on but wasn't sure where.

One of the funny things was that the Dean of Boorum Academy had called me in to his office to offer me a 'rare privilege' as he put it. If I consented, he was willing to make me a full- time instructor in horsemanship, after I graduated. I sat there stunned while he went on and on about how happy I should be. I hadn't told him what I really thought. No help, and bust your butt making money for the school. I had left after telling him I would think about it. Unless my father died and I was starving, I wouldn't take that kind of a position.

I was still one or two in my class and happy with that. The only sour note was my estrangement from Adam. But that was caused by his prejudice against others based on money. I still remember the confrontation well.

After I had received that message from Elizabeth and my father about their intended marriage, I used studying as an excuse to stay at school during the first short holiday period. Adam was going home and I knew he would be hearing about our parent's planned marriage. I really couldn't tell how he would respond. I would just have to wait until he returned. As soon as that first long holiday weekend was over, I thought he would come over and talk to me. He did.

The first thing he had said on entering the bungalow was, "When did you first hear about it?"

I hadn't needed to ask what he was talking about, it was obvious. "About a month ago. But they wanted to break it to you themselves. I thought it would be better that way so I didn't mention it. They thought you might be upset."

"But God, Matt, he's a groom. Our family is upper-class. I don't know what to think. Hell, I'm even fucking your left-overs, and you're marrying a Lord's daughter. What the hell is happening to this world?"

"Adam, I doubt that it will make you feel any better about this, but I need to set the record straight about my father. He has doctorates from Oxford in philosophy and literature. He chooses to study advanced agricultural management and is an authority in that field."

"He was an excellent professor until he had a personal problem which I know about but will not discuss with you. My grandfather taught both him and me about horsemanship because we loved it so much. I hope you can appreciate that my father is a very talented and educated person."

"And, Adam, Janice is no one's left-over. She is probably smarter than either of us. Never refer to her that way again in my presence." Adam looked a little stunned when I finished, but I didn't care if he was insulted.

"I won't be studying with you any longer, " he said.

"That's your choice, Adam. If you feel this strongly about my father marrying your mother, you should make sure she knows about your objections as soon as possible."

Adam had clinched his right fist in anger while I tried to explain my feelings to him. I felt fairly calm, but I was prepared to beat him half-to-death if he swung at me. After a few more seconds he left the bungalow slamming the door behind him.

My father had asked me to spend a few days at Christmas with him and the Venerables. Adam hadn't come back to our study sessions so I knew it would be a strained situation. Besides, Millicent wanted me to come to her father's for a visit during the same holiday. So we worked it out. The three days before Christmas Millicent and I would visit with Lord Garth, and the next three days she and I would visit at Venerable Hall.

Lord Garth's Home

The three days we spent with Lord Garth was a real eye-opener. These people were really the country's rich. The whole place was literally run by trusted staff people. It was pleasant enough if that is what you were used to, but I wasn't. If Millicent eventually inherited this place and the lands that went with it, I would be overwhelmed just trying to understand it all.

Lord Garth had accepted that I was to be his son-in-law. I think he was happy with the arrangement because Millicent was happy. She came to my room each night and I know the staff was not the least bit fooled. Or Lord Garth, for that matter.

On the morning we left to stay at Venerable Hall, the Lord said something that gave me a chill. He briefly commented that he had met with Elizabeth Venerable and that a suitable place was being renovated for us. He also mentioned that the location was to be a surprise. Somehow, Elizabeth was manipulating my life again in the background. Wouldn't that woman ever give up?

The short answer was NO!

Venerable Hall

I told Millicent on the way to Venerable Hall that I would be staying in the stable with my father rather than in the main house. I don't think she understood but went along with it. They were short of bedrooms and I made her aware of that. So, I had instructed the coachman about the unloading of my meager baggage in the back and Millicent's baggage and her gifts for the family in the front of the house.

William was not in the stable when I got there. At least everything was as it was before, comfortable. Within half an hour, Elizabeth came up the stairs.

"So, Mathew, you've decided to stay out here with William."

"I thought it more appropriate and I haven't seen him for a while. Do you know where he is?"

"Yes. He felt obligated to visit my tenant farmers and extend season greeting to them. They seem to love your father. He has literally taken over the running of the lands. The overseer doesn't even see me anymore, which is just as well. I'm very pleased with William."

"I'm glad that things are working out for both of you. In father's letters he seems very pleased that you are to be married. I've always had the feeling that he loved you, even from the beginning of our stay here. I hope you really do feel the same way about him."

"I really do love him, Mathew. But there will always be a little holding back between us. You are the only one I can be completely honest with. You know me for what I have become. I'm comfortable around you. I suppose I should be since you perverted me and my daughter to oral sex. Then introduced Adam to a girl who you had also perverted. Our whole family practically ruined because of you. Then, of course,

you just walked

away and decided to marry someone outside our

family. So, my turning to William was almost

inevitable, wasn't it?"

Elizabeth mentioned in leaving that Adam had invited Janice for the holidays.

I planned to spend most of my stay at Venerable Hall in the stable. When my father returned we quickly fell into our comfortable pattern. We talked a lot about his work and how things were going with Lord Garth's contract for services and the Venerable farm lands.

I was resigned to my fate of having a step-mother and step-sister with the smell. Even though I had told Millicent about my smell problem, I don't think she fully appreciated how hard it was to resist it. This mornings visit with Elizabeth had been more difficult than I had let on. The woman just seemed to radiate sex.

Elizabeth wasn't at all unhappy about her brief meeting with Mathew. She always wet herself whenever she was in the same room with him and today was no exception.She was gratified to see him swallowing more often and breaking into a slight sweat. The smell; how fortuitous that she had it. And making Mathew feel guilty was helpful too.

She had subtly manipulated Lord Garth. She knew he owned the large estate just across the road. It was conveniently vacant. She had simply stressed the need for Mathew and William to be physically close to each other because of their future work together. Then she casually mentioned that Lord Garth and herself would be able to see a lot of the grand-children that way. He did the obvious thing and even said he would have it renovated and redecorated as soon as possible.